Edmonton Oilers’ Evander Kane leaves game after accidental skate blade cut to wrist

It was a scary scene in Tampa Bay, as Edmonton Oilers winger Evander Kane had to leave Tuesday night’s game early against the Tampa Bay Lightning due to an accidental cut to his wrist from Lightning winger Patrick Maroon’s skate blade.

The incident occurred early in the second period when Kane and Lightning defenseman Philippe Myers both attempted to get the puck along the half wall, and Myers threw Kane to the ground. More players got into the scrum with Maroon being one of them, and he accidentally cut Kane’s wrist while he was skating by the fallen forward.

Here’s the link to the clip of the incident (warning: there is blood in the clip, so it’s not for the faint of heart).

Oilers GM Ken Holland said the following on Kane’s situation shortly after the incident: “He has a deep cut on his wrist. He was stabilized and has gone to the hospital. Kane will have surgery on his wrist. He will be OK.”

There is currently no update as to how long Kane will be out, but it’s definitely good news that he’s stabilized.

On Wednesday, Kane posted a statement on Twitter saying he’s ‘on the mend’.

“Thank you all for the kind wishes and prayers from over the past several hours,” Kane said. “Obviously last night was an extremely scary moment for me and I’m still in a little bit of shock. I would like to thank the entire training staff of the Edmonton Oilers and Tampa Bay Lighting, along with all the doctors and paramedics who rushed to help treat and repair my injury. Without all of you, I know things would’ve been much worse and I’m sincerely grateful. I won’t be back next game, but I will be back and I look forward to being back on the ice playing the game I love alongside my teammates in front of our great fans.”

Kane played 7:53 of ice time in the game before leaving the game, with no points and a shot on goal. The Oilers currently lead the Lightning 3-1 at the end of the second period with Kane out of the lineup.

Kane currently has five goals, eight assists, and 13 points in 14 games to start the 2022-23 campaign. He’s picked up right where he left off last season in Edmonton, where he had 22 goals, 17 assists, and 39 points in 43 games.

Kane is in the first year of a four year contract with a $5.125 million cap hit with the Oilers, one he signed after he joined the team last year on a one year deal. He was in the fourth year of a seven year deal with the Sharks in 2021-22 before his deal was terminated due to violation of NHL and AHL COVID-19 protocols, and he signed with the Oilers afterwards.